Raman, Son of the Basker Duke
Yoo Haneul's life as a slave in the Basker Ducal House was far less eventful than one might imagine. She didn't know the language, had never seen this world before, and had gone through some kind of isekai transfer or whatever—normally, that should've been thrilling in all sorts of ways. But a slave's existence held none of that excitement.
Even without understanding words, she could swing a pickaxe. Even ignorant of the world's culture, she could mow grass with a sickle. And even unable to speak, she could choke down tough bread and bugs. So Haneul kept her mouth shut tight, repeating the same pickaxe swings and sickle strokes day after day, just enduring.
About a month in, a young man arrived whom the slaves welcomed with wild enthusiasm. From their unified cries of "Raman," she gathered that was his name. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. Raman handed out soft bread and milk to the slaves, and taught the children reading and various other lessons. Haneul ended up among those kids—not because of her looks, but because her knowledge was just as lacking. Well, her appearance didn't hurt; she barely looked mid-teens, so to Raman, she must've seemed like just another child.
Raman visited the slaves' quarters once a month, following the same routine every time: distributing bread and milk, teaching the kids essential knowledge and letters, occasionally giving medicine to the sick or treating the injured. Naturally, Haneul became one of the slaves who looked forward to his visits. She'd spent her life avoiding study, but the lessons in this world were strangely fun. His bread and milk tasted amazing too. It was plain white bread, the kind back on Earth she rarely bothered with, but here it was softer and tastier than beef—utterly mind-blowing.
So Haneul never once suspected Raman might be a villain. He was a good man. Absolutely. No way he wasn't... That conviction was cemented by what happened when she decided to escape the city.
Whether the gods had gone mad or the nobles had lost their minds, suddenly slaves were thrown into battle as meat shields nonstop. Normally, they were only used that way for must-subjugate monsters, but now even unnecessary ones got slaves as fodder. Daily deaths rose from ten to twenty, then forty. At the peak, a hundred died at once. Among them were Haneul's friends, and even the adoptive parents who'd treated her like a daughter.
That's when Haneul resolved to run. And Raman played the biggest role in smuggling her out of the city past the knights.
"Haneul, head to the forest. It's big, but push through and you'll reach a village where you can live a bit more at ease. Remember the village Teacher told you about? Yeah, that one."
"Go there and... live easy. Find a good husband, live happy, comfortable, strong."
Of course, Raman was gunned down on the spot. He died smiling, bristling with spears, swords, and arrows like a porcupine. That was the last image of him Haneul ever saw.
Even after eons passed, she remained utterly convinced Raman was an exceptionally good person. Maybe nostalgia had beautified the memory. Still, she trusted her certainty without doubt. Even now.
Entering this village, she'd thought to recruit Raman into her revolution party for sure. Right up until he showed up at this inn.
"...Haneul, you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay."
Crazy, but okay. She'd lived most of her life insane, after all. If anything, the rare moments of sanity were the problem. She'd almost slipped into one just now.
'Whoa, almost went sane there.'
Haneul swallowed a sigh of relief and peered closely at Raman's still-unconscious face. He looked even more refined now than the last time, with added muscle. Come to think of it, he'd been in rough shape back then too. Maybe captured and tortured somewhere.
"Someone you know...?"
"Knew him back then, but now? Eh, not really."
"...What does that even mean?"
"Truth is, this world got destroyed once. God died, everything crumbled. The forest we were in? I burned it down myself. There was this alligator that sacrificed itself for me when I was starving to death, but it tasted awful, so I just torched everything. Anyway, this place got wrecked once, but somehow it's all fine now?"
Baek Hye-seo's face went blank as Haneul rattled on. The idea of a destroyed world being restored was wild enough, but the disjointed storytelling hit even harder.
"...You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, so ask whatever before Raman wakes up."
"...Then what's this place? Or, like, how was it made?"
"A model garden created by the Constellations. Or maybe the real world with time fully rewound. Something like that."
"Hmm..."
If she could talk to the King of Wisdom right now, she'd get good advice, but no matter how desperately she reached out, his voice didn't come. At least she could still use Constellation powers, which was a relief.
Baek Hye-seo tried blending her mana with those powers to probe this world's structure, but gave up fast. Something beyond those towering mountains made even reading the world feel terrifying. Was that a Constellation? A world with gods but no kings. Did the Constellations oversee those gods? Then what was Haneul after here? Revolution couldn't be the real goal.
As her thoughts reached that point, Baek Hye-seo ventured carefully, "Haneul, for the revolution to succeed... you'd have to topple the highest nobles, right? So the ducal house? There's a grand duke? Grand dukes too?"
"Yeah, the Basker Ducal House. But here's the tricky part—I don't even know if the Basker Grand Duke is a real noble family."
"Huh? Why?"
"Even when the city was falling apart, the Basker Grand Duke never showed. There were paintings of him, sure, but paintings can be faked easy."
Haneul even wondered if someone had propped up the Basker Ducal House as a scapegoat. She'd hunted down every city noble one by one, yet never laid eyes on the Grand Duke for real.
"That's definitely weird... What about the noble who communicates with the god?"
"That's supposedly the Basker Grand Duke, but who knows. We'll find out for sure this time."
As Haneul finished, Raman's eyelids fluttered faintly. His slapped cheek was badly swollen, lips torn—kinda pitiful.
"Awake, huh? Come on, introduce yourself—where you from, how old, name?"
Raman scowled and opened his eyes. Pain throbbed horribly now that he was conscious. Then he saw the grinning girl sitting before him and forced his scowl away.
"...You do this?"
"Whoa, bold—answering a question with one. Yup, I slapped you. You popped out sudden, hand moved on its own. Sorry. So who am I? I'm..."
Haneul trailed off, mouth shut long, then scratched her cheek with a heavy sigh.
"Ugh, keeps bringing up old memories. Annoying."
In the end, she untied the ropes binding Raman. Baek Hye-seo flinched beside her, but Haneul wasn't worried. No way this guy could harm them.
"I'm Haneul. This is Bianca—no, Baek Hye-seo."
"Ah, hi?"
Raman glanced back and forth between them, hesitating ages before speaking cautiously. "You two have really unique names. I'm... Raman. Do you know me by chance?"
"Nah, don't. Raman, you know me?"
Raman sat up, shaking his head. "Me too... seems like first time. Definitely first. Can't forget someone with an appearance as special as yours, Haneul."
Haneul's brow twitched. It felt weird, someone she'd been so close to in the past acting like total strangers. Not the first time, though—the Imoogi had treated her like a newbie too. But that was different. Honestly, all Imoogi looked the same. How do you tell massive snake-dragon monsters apart? Raman, though? Unmistakable. This was the same Raman who'd smuggled her out of the city.
"So why's Teacher Raman here?"
"...Teacher?"
Slip of the tongue. No need to fix it, though—Haneul just blurted her thoughts.
"You just look the type. Y'know, visits slaves once a month, hands out bread and milk, teaches lessons."
Raman's gaze sharpened. "...How do you know that? You investigated me? No, impossible."
Not content with that, he dropped polite speech, voice edgier than before. It suited him oddly well, stirring another strange feeling in Haneul as she replied.
"I'm actually from the future. In that future, I was a slave. You were my teacher. Helped me escape the city at the end—ring any bells?"
"Insane talk."
"Yup. Insane talk. My specialty. So why're you here? Looking for Malcolm? Too bad, can't call him."
Raman finally scanned the room, eyes narrowing. "...Malcolm's dead, I see. You kill him?"
"Tch, pointless suspicion'll drag this out, so I'll cut to the chase."
Haneul explained everything since arriving at the inn. What could've been an hour-plus of suspicion and scheming wrapped in five minutes. As doubt and hostility faded from Raman's eyes, Haneul finally relaxed.
"So really, why're you here? Buying a cute girl? You know the secret passage, so not your first time. Regular?"
"I..."
Raman pondered, eyeing the surroundings closely, then spoke quietly. "Malcolm was trading to rescue people he bought from traffickers everywhere."
No polite speech back, sadly. But Haneul didn't mind much—she was tossing casual barbs too.
"Super cliché excuse. Got proof?"
"Don't wanna show, but you won't believe without it, and you'll kill me?"
"Kinda awkward for me, but Hye-seo here can do it instead."
Baek Hye-seo, catching only her name, went wide-eyed.
"Said you're pretty, Hye-seo."
"Ah, eep..."
Haneul turned back to Raman. "How're you rescuing? Proof where? Not saying you already sprung 'em all to another city?"
"...Can't move them that fast. Right now... they're protected in a safe place."
"Sounds exactly like what real criminals say with their captives."
"You calling me a criminal...? Sigh. Even if I show you, no guarantee you won't harm them?"
"If you're really protecting them, I swear on my name I won't hurt a hair."
"Ha, the kind of lie nobles spew."
Raman sighed deeply and stood. "Fine. Words are pointless now—I'll show you. Follow."
Not groveling to avoid death, but resolved to prove it for those waiting on him... That's what Haneul decided to believe. The Raman she knew would've done exactly that. Or maybe her subconscious wished it so.
"Where to?"
"Basker Ducal House."
"Huh? Why there?"
"The safe place I mentioned."
"Isn't that the most dangerous spot? Perfect for that bastard Basker Grand Duke to do evil shit."
"I'm that bastard Basker Grand Duke's son. Rahman Basker. That's my real name."
Shocked, Haneul and Baek Hye-seo locked eyes. They stared forever before turning back... to find the young heir of the ducal house they had to topple standing right there.